“You know, you could have been a little nicer today,” he tries to chastise.
“Please. Nice would have had me there for hours going in circles. Nice wouldn’t have given me the result that I needed.”
“And what do you think you accomplished today Ms. Whitmore?”
“They fear me. I don’t want anything else yet. They will grow to respect me, but right now, I need them walking on eggshells, afraid that if they do anything stupid, it will cost them their lives,” I explain, still flipping through papers, not caring what they say.
“And will it cost them?” Damien asks, sitting down across from me and forcing me to meet his eyes.
I stare at his designer suit and striped tie, smirking. They had given a statement fifty minutes after I left and told the reporters that they were absolutely thrilled to have me. No one was going to contest it and legally they felt that there were no issues.
“If they do anything that will hinder me from saving everyone, yes I will kill them Damien. I have no other options. I will keep my word.”
“You sound like someone,” he warns.
“My father didn’t have to deal with what I’m dealing with and those weapons that he started having developed sure as hell aren’t helping things. My people are making moves to secure everyone’s safety. I don’t make these threats lightly and I also know when it’s all said and done, there will be far too much blood on my hands. But, this is my life, my duty. I have to do this.”
“You have to kill people.”
I don’t know if it’s a statement or a question, so I don’t answer. Instead, I change the subject as I stand up.
“Do you want some water?”
“Sure. No ice,” he responds.
A minute later, I come back with the water. “How are things with you and Tamara?” I ask.
“They’re fine,” he responds shortly. Look, I really didn’t know that she wanted to be unmade. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking.”
“She’s thinking that she wants to be more than she is. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just that she has no idea what it’s really like,” I tell him.
“Do you still talk to the immortals?” Damien asks, between sips.
“I haven’t. I was supposed to talk to them about the Namen in my head problem, but I really wanted to wait and see what could be done. I think Selene has been looking for a solution on her own and Zara’s grandmother Zahira may be able to give some insight because it’s like a deep compulsion,” I reply, sipping my own ice water.
“There are also some issues with my powers that I need to figure out and I plan to take a few days soon working out if my new powers are here to stay. Ever since I fought Zara and my power exploded, my gifts have been changing, growing, or both. I need to figure out what it all means and I wanted to use the immortals as a last resort because they don’t want anything to do with the human world.” I may not have a choice though and Zahira creeps me out even without meeting her.
“You’ve got a lot on your plate, are you sure you want to help run a company?” Damien asks, concern showing in his dark eyes.
“You’re going to do most of the work. I’m going to leave it to you to explain that to everyone. I will come in and be seen, but what I’m doing is much more important. Tell them I’m working from home. Once Selene tells me what she thinks about the weapons, we’ll go from there. Also, I need you to find me someone you can trust that works in the technology department. I need to pay the mayor a visit tomorrow night while he’s at home and I don’t want anyone knowing I was there.”
“Just what do you plan to do?” Damien leans forward in his seat, giving me “the look.”
“I plan to make a statement. He needs to know that from now on, he’s just a figurehead and he’d better be a team player.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
“Not at all.”
“Well shit, at least you’re honest,” Damien laughs, finishing his water. He sits there for a second, contemplating something before seemingly deciding to drop it.
I don’t let him though. “Just say what’s on your mind, D. We don’t get to talk a lot.”
“Yeah, I know. I was just- I was thinking about what we’d be doing right now if none of this ever happened. What do you think?”
I sit there at a loss for words. Sure, I think about it all the time, but I never really say it aloud. I always imagine if I had gone to college and kept dancing where I would be. But at the same time, those visions seem so unrealistic that I can’t even voice it. It’s almost as if me even trying to, will rip a hole in the world and swallow up anyone else that I love, just for wishing for a normal life.
Damien frowns. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ask you something hurtful.”
“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I can’t even imagine it anymore. I can’t even see that life,” I admit. “Maybe deep inside it is too hurtful to think about.” I sigh.
“And that’s okay. You’re dealing with it as much as I think anyone can. I think that you feel that you should be over it completely, but that’s impossible. You loved your family and they loved you,” Damien reaches across to squeeze my hand.
I smile warmly.
“Do you remember when your mom made that cake for your twelfth birthday and when she brought it out to the pool you were jumping in the air and knocked it out of her hand?”
“Uh yeah. I was traumatized and thought that I had ruined everything. I ran to my room crying because she worked so hard on the cake and I knew how excited she was to have me taste it.”
“And what happened next?” Damien asks patiently.
“My birthday turned into a cooking party and everyone took turns helping out in the kitchen to make something that we all had to taste.”
“If I remember correctly, there was a food fight started by your mom and flour was everywhere. Jasmine looked like a little ghost when it was all done and your dad had frosting in his ear somehow.”
“My friends said that it was the best party ever. We all jumped in the pool to get clean and even when we were done, we didn’t make any of the employees clean up the mess; we did it ourselves and stayed up all night.” I chuckle at how crazy that day was.
“What about when you thought your dad got kidnapped because he hid too well playing hide and seek and you called the police?”
I laugh louder. “Let’s leave that alone. I was only like five.”
“Okay, how about when you told Jasmine that she could be mailed to China and tried to put her in that box,” Damien smirks.
“I poked holes in it and everything. She had food and water too. She woulda made it,” I defend my younger self.
“Right. How about your first dance, or your first swim meet?”
“They never missed one.”
“What about when you got suspended from school for pushing the little boy that took the girls lunch money?”
“Hey, I should have never been suspended. He stole from her,” I argue.
“He did, but you pushed him, after you got the money back.”
“My dad got that suspension removed. Then, him and mom sat me down and told me that they were proud of me for standing up for what I believed, but I could have handled it in a different way.”
“Then what?” Damien asks.
“Then, they hugged me and asked me what I thought my punishment should be. I told them that I shouldn’t get to sleep with my favorite teddy bear for the night and that I should write an apology letter to the boy. They agreed with my decision.” I tear up at the thought of my parents being so patient with me and allowing me to have free thought.
“What do you remember, Rayne?”
“I remember Christmas in different countries, riding on my dad’s shoulders or stepping on his feet when we danced. I remember listening to my mom sing while she cooked and me and Jazzy playing dress-up with her clothes. I remember Jazzy slipping into bed with me when she had a nightmare and me eating her vegeta
bles when she didn’t want them, or taking the blame when she broke a vase. I remember laughing, a lot. I remember my mom crying on my first day of high school and not understanding why. I also remember treating her like shit and never finding common ground as I got older.”
The tears remain unshed somehow, but the pain is evident in my face. I had a million wonderfully amazing memories of my family, but I regret the last few years drifting apart from my mom so much. Yes, I’ve always been daddy’s girl, but there’s still nothing like the bond between mother and child. Ours will forever be broken.
“Ray Ray, your mom may have not seen eye to eye with you about what seems to you like many things, you being a lesbian included, but that woman was so proud of the fire you possessed. Things weren’t as bad as they seem in your head,” Damien promises.
I stand up and touch the only picture I have of us in the house, given to me by Damien. All of our smiles had been real. All of our love had been unwavering for each other. I know that, but I still feel like she didn’t see me for who I really am.
“You only saw so much. You didn’t live there, you didn’t see the look of disappointment on her face every time I made a decision that she didn’t like. She wanted me to be great, but I had thought I was just fine in my own way.”
“I think that Elizabeth wanted you to take advantage of more things that they worked so hard to give you. You were getting older and growing up into the type of adult that you wanted to be, but she just wanted to hold on. She wanted to protect you from this cruel world. She may have gone about it wrong, but parents aren’t perfect,” he tells me.
No, they aren’t. And they have plenty of secrets of their own.
“Did my mom know about what dad really did? Did she know about awakeneds?” I ask, sitting back down.
“She did. As far as I knew, there weren’t secrets between your parents. She didn’t always agree with his choices, but she always trusted him. Remember that there were things in your dad’s past that had to be discussed.”
“So what did she think about supernaturals?”
“I think she was afraid of them. She didn’t like to talk about that. When Jason found out that Selene was a witch, he told her. That could be another reason why she didn’t want you around her,” he finally admits.
I don’t know how to feel about that. For a couple seconds, I just listen to the sound of traffic in the distance. Processing.
I finally bring myself to ask, “Why didn’t you guys just tell me?”
“You know the answer Ray Ray, we’ve talked about this. We were preparing to tell you everything.”
My power begins to simmer in reaction to my anger. Me knowing sooner wouldn’t have kept my parents alive, but I like to believe that it would’ve made a difference.
“Hey, don’t take your anger out on me. I don’t think I could survive that,” Damien semi-jokes.
Too bad he doesn’t know the damage that I’m actually capable of.
“Why is our land still in ruins?” I ask.
“No one wants to go near it. I think the demon energy may have something to do with it. I think I heard about that somewhere,” Damien explains, leaning back on the couch.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that. I just thought that someone would want to profit and make it into a murder museum or something.” I laugh at the thought. In this world, you never know.
“Rebuild if you want. Or, get the land cleared if it’s uncomfortable for you.”
I contemplate that as Selene unlocks the door and steps inside. She had been going over the weapons for hours and I’ve been waiting to hear the results of her observations. Damien stands up and gives Selene an awkward side hug. They’ve never hugged before. We peck on the lips and she plops on the couch next to D.
“Humans love to murder people that they fear and they damn sure can get pretty inventive in doing so. With that said, there are too many things in that place that will kill us if there were a war.” Selene gives Damien a pointed look and I frown.
“How many are there?” I ask.
“About twelve. They seem to be working on at least eight more,” Selene tells me.
“Should they all be destroyed on just halted?” I ask again, trusting her judgment.
“Is it right for supernaturals to have the unfair advantage with everything? Don’t you think that destroying things that people spent their entire careers on is a terrible decision?” Damien asks.
“Aren’t there enough weapons in the world already?” Selene responds. I can tell by the way her eye twitches that she’s growing irritated.
“You have almost every advantage over us,” he says, raising his voice.
“You have numbers. There will always be more regular humans than those of us that are awakened. You also have plenty of weapons that can kill us. I don’t feel that you need more,” Selene says sharply.
“This is why Namen wants to strike first and in such a dramatic way. If he fails to win and supernaturals are exposed, humans will hunt and hunt until they are extinct. All the more reason to not make any moves that could make him do something stupid or give regular humans any more tools of destruction,” I decide.
“Rayne-,” Damien begins.
“We will use the technology that’s been developed for non-combative situations. The weapons will be destroyed and anyone that has worked on them will have to be glamoured. All I can see is death and destruction and awakends will never forgive us if it is used,” I say.
“Don’t destroy everything. We have secure locations. Put the prototypes in there. Too much work has gone into it. You know that I agree with you on everything else, but I had made a decision to restart the weapons program just in case. Don’t allow all that effort to just be destroyed,” Damien pleads.
I sit and think for a few seconds, looking to Selene, but she remains expressionless, allowing me to make the decision on my own. I sigh in defeat after looking into D’s eyes, his sincerity overpowering my resolve.
“Fine. The prototypes remain, but all that other shit has to go. We need to decide where we’ll go from here. Security. Human security is what we specialize in. Whitmore Industries has been making far too many weapons. Let’s branch out. We can get into medical tech, more clean energy solutions, better evidence collection, something. We have the brains to make it happen.”
“We’ll talk about that at the next meeting. Now, are you sure about the mayor thing?” D asks.
“What mayor thing?” Selene questions.
“We’ll talk about it. Yes, I need his schedule for tomorrow and all of his security systems disabled once he gets home for the night,” I tell him, working my plan in my head.
“Have you always been this bossy and crazy?” Damien asks shaking his head. He heads to the door, hand on the nob.
“See you later, Damien,” I respond smiling.
He waves goodbye and shuts the door behind him. I hear his engine start and then pull away, leaving me to explain what I’m doing tomorrow to Selene.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Jaxson picks up the phone on the third ring. His deep voice fills my ears with his hello and I waste no time getting down to business. Well, after a little bit of teasing of course.
“So did Jun pass the sex test. I mean the breast test. Oops, I mean the stress test?”
“Fuck you, Rayne,” he growls playfully.
“No, seriously though, after your intimate encounter, which by the way I heard only lasted like two minutes because you were so excited that you forgot to pace yourself, did you find out if she’s trustworthy?”
There’s a female laugh in the background. Jun obviously heard my joke. A second later, her soft voice comes on the line. “Actually, it was two and a half minutes. I was highly disappointed. For him to be such a big man, he’s actually lacking in the-,”
There’s a tussle over the phone and then even more female laughter. I can’t help but smile. If she’s still around, that means that not only is there something to explore between
them, but she’s mildly trustworthy. Jaxson finally gets the phone back from Jun and I can hear as he steps outside and shuts the door behind himself.
“For the record, I have the size and the stamina to go the distance, so screw you for playing around about my manhood, and screw you again for allowing her to join in on bashing me. There were no complaints and it’s none of your business anyway. As your alpha, I command you to shut the hell up about it.” He mutters something else under his breath. It’s humorous, really.
“Oh please, that alpha command mojo doesn’t work on me. But, I’ll leave you alone. If she’s still there, then that’s a good sign. If she really wants in, I need her to do something with me tonight. It’s going to be crazy,” I warn.
“I think crazy just may be her middle name. Now, what is it that you intend to do with her?” he inquires.
I relay the same plan to Jaxson that I did to Selene. “I’m going to break into the mayor’s house and tell him the truth about awakeneds. I’m going to threaten his life if he doesn’t work with me. He needs to know about Namen and what will happen if Namen wins. I then need Jun to come in with the Chief of Police whom I’m going to kill in his house so that he knows I’m not playing.”
“You’re going to do what now?” Jaxson interrupts.
“Let me finish, don’t be rude. Then, I need him to appoint a new leader that can be trusted to look the other way while we clean house of all the humans that are working for Namen.”
“First of all, Queen Crazy, you can’t kill everyone.”
“I know that,” I say rolling my eyes.
“Second, you can’t kill the chief in the mayor’s house.”
“Fine, Jun can do it. I want her to shift to wolf anyway. She can do it while she’s changed. That’ll really get the point across.” Scare tactics.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s going to be perfect. I’m going to have someone from my staff go back and hack the phones to make it seem like messages were exchanged to meet the mayor at his house to discuss something. His security system will be down, so it’ll be very convenient. He won’t be able to spin a story that the people of our great city believe that will exonerate him of the murder if he doesn’t cooperate.”
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